Socio-Economic Dualism in Makati City: A Case Study of Barangay Magallanes and Barangay Post Proper South Side

Abstract

This exploratory research on Socio-Economic Dualism evident in the City of Makati ventures into the aspects of the city's development and identifies the factors which affected its growth that resulted to the apparent unbalanced development. It delves on the socioeconomic status of barangays and their households to establish the disparity asserted in the research. This study focuses on barangay Magallanes and barangay Post Proper South Side to provide a more detailed description of the condition. It also considers the response of the actors involved to distinguish the efforts in minimizing the gap between the affluent and the underprivileged barangays. This study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. It used historical accounts and existing statistics, key informant interviews, and surveys to effectively establish the asserted socio-economic disparity. It operates on Critical Social Science approach, with the theories of Historical Materialism and Socio-Economic Development. As a result, Socio-Economic Dualism is indeed evident in the City of Makati, reinforced by the disparity illustrated in the case of Magallanes and Post Proper South Side. This condition is brought about by actors in development during the city's growth such as the private sector, the local government, and the population. Indicators of the unbalanced development arc the socio-economic conditions of the residents in barangays within the CBD relative to the conditions of residents in its peripheries. The local government of Makati recognizes the duality in the city but their efforts in responding to this condition do not have immediate effects in lessening the repercussions of socio-economic dualism to the city and to its residents.